France Tour Reviews — 601 to 630 of 943

I broke my wrist while half way through the trip. Everyone was very kind and supported me to make sure I was included in most activities.

Our group of eight greatly enjoyed our experience at Les Magnolias and especially appreciated the personalized hospitality of Claudia, supported by her always-courteous and attentive staff. We really give highest marks to the quality of the food, cleanliness of the rooms and facilities, selection of bikes and, of course, the amazing scenery and sites of interest. Thank you so much for a great week!! We will be back some day!

This trip is not accurately described. Most of our group found the biking to be quite challenging, yet it was rated as "Easy to Moderate". This is a misrepresentation and should be adjusted. On the first day, one our group had to be taken to the hospital due to the heat and exertion. The captain of Le Fleur could use some lessons in hospitality. He and his crew occupied the salon every evening for their meal after we ate, and then they stayed there for the evening. This put the guests out on the back deck as the only alternative -- and then he scolded us when we were laughing due to the noise. The captain did not treat us like guests, but the other team members were friendly. The fact that we sailed with the captain's young daughter and their large dog was a surprise. I would not recommend this boat, but enjoyed the sites and activities. I have taken two other bike and barge tours, and this one did not compare favorably.

Bourg / Blaye was a wonderful ride with minimal traffic and enough gradient to make it interesting. The fortified town at Blaye was an interesting diversion from vineyards. In all a well organized tour with excellent staff. The bikes were a little heavy but that gave me an excuse for an extra creme brûlée!

A GREAT experience on a bike & barge trip! I LOVE Bordeaux and the bike routes were beautiful !!! absolutely amazing from the start to the end.
The staff members were superb and we had fun !!!
I highly recommend this trip !!!

Thank you for arranging our bike/barge trip on the MS Bordeaux.

We cannot tell you enough good about MS Bordeaux, the Captain and his crew. It was so enjoyable to arrive on board, unpack for eight days, and relax. On other bike rides, we unpacked every night and repacked every morning. I think another bike/barge is in order. Tim LaMonte and I are researching next year’s ride already!

The food was exceptional (except for one night when the chef was off. My red mullet was raw and not cooked. Can you spell Y-U-C-K?). Every day, we packed our lunches (except when we did our walking tour of Bordeaux with Sebastian, see below.) Desserts were yummy!

The bike rides were great and we discovered fantastic wines!

There were 84 passengers on-board. A large group was from Australia, some from Canada, Switzerland and the USA. Even though those of on the non-guided ride tour rode at different speeds, we continuously found each, and other helped each other find our way and found places of interest. The camaraderie with other riders was phenomenal.

I had an e-bike. Ginny had a regular bike. On the last day, she traded it in for an e-bike! She will get one for the next tour! Tim also traded his bike for an e-bike on the last day.

In the middle of the week, we could ride our bikes on a short bike path or take a walking tour of Bordeaux, or both. We decided to have a relaxing day and took the walking tour.

Sebastian, the bartender, had the day off. We asked why he did the free walking tour on his day off. His response was simple. He loved to tell people about his country and take them on tour of his hometown, Bordeaux.

A total delight was our interaction with 19-year old Dorrian (sp?). He was the highlight of the trip. He gave the welcome briefing, the evening briefings on what to expect the next day, and was always available.

1. Dee LaMonte had a flat tire. We called Dorrian and he was there within 15 minutes

2. Dorrian was on different roads where the non-guided riders were, and always got us on the right track.

3. Every time we were not sure of where we should be, Dorrian showed up like magic!

4. Another flat tire, a telephone call, and Dorrian found us again. He took Dee LaMonte and her bike in a van to MS Bordeaux. Dorrian also offered a ride to the rest of us, however, we declined and rode the rest of the way back.

The final night on board, was the Captains Dinner, a party and lots wine flowing and lot of dancing! A perfect way to celebrate the end of our adventure!

It was an altogether pleasant experience; the highlight was the lovely little village of Saint-Émilion.

The best part was traveling with friends. I would have enjoyed more information about the area and towns we were traveling through.

The staff and crew of the Anna Marie were very friendly and helpful but over all, if this was my first bike and barge trip, it would probably would have been my last. The accommodations were small, we knew that going in but because space was so limited, there was nowhere to hang the towels to dry properly so they should have been changed a little more frequently. The mattress on the bunk bed also needed to be changed as it was old and hard to sleep on.
The food at breakfast was the same for 7 days, as were the luncheon meats. The bread was fabulous but could have been switched up with some protein like eggs to start the day. The dinners were, on most occasions, tasty and delicious but lacked quantity after a long bike ride.
My biggest complaint was the cost of the water. The days were hot, the stores and restaurants along the way were closed and for the temperature we should have been provided with water or somewhere to fill our bottles. The boat charged too much for a small bottle and provided only one even smaller bottle for the day.
Our bike guide did not provided any history of the areas we saw and at night, we were not given any tours of the place we were moored at.
Last but not least, all the bikes needed to be tuned up, several chains, when changing gears, fell off, some brakes did not work well and some gears would not change properly.
The most memorable part of the trip were the rest of the passengers, we all enjoyed each others company and had the ability to laugh at some of the situations described.

Most Memorable? For me the day we cycled through the city of Paris. We got to experience a very authentic side of Parisian life, zooming along the myriad of bike paths with the locals, enjoying the sights, sounds and smells and knowing we were in the capable hands of our guide. Having a guide removes all of the navigational stress and allows for the freedom to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Great trip, great barge, well organized, a list of fellow passengers for each cabin would have been helpful from the start
Keep in mind the MPS Zwaantje does provide hairdryers for each cabin, provides WiFi- a truly upscale barge.

Beautiful chateaus. Great wine. Not allowed to drink in cabin. Cabin extremely small. Shower barely fit one person. Guide excellent. No sauna or hot tub. I would recommend this trip but not this boat (the Bordeaux).

The crew of the Feniks, provided the most amazing experience. The food simple satisfying and enjoyable. Food fresh, tasty, and cooked well by the Nelje. Marius and Reinhold, provided amazing care of all our needs The accommodation small, efficient and clean. You always slept well. The guide Nina with her amazing knowledge showed us her secret places, backroads, canal paths, and bike paths. She encouraged all riders while challenging us beyond what we thought we could do. As a experience it exceeded my expectations. Looking for a different French/Belgium experience do this trip you never forget it. Will do another trip this way, and if possible on the Feniks...

A great trip in many ways. Good staff - helpful and friendly. Good scenic route with chances to visit places of interest, very good food. Only draw back was problems with 3 out of 4 'E' bikes and a lack of expertise in how to fix them causing stress to some riders.

The time on the boat was fun and enjoyable. Your description of the bike ride being easy to moderate was way off. It should have been described as hard to difficult!! It was very misleading.

Awesome trip with a wonderful crew. The only misleading part was the description of easy to moderate biking. The hills of France made this trip more difficult than expected.

This is a fantastic tour in a very beautiful part of rural France. The hotel is very comfortable, consisting of a series of very old but beautifully restored buildings together with some sympathetically designed modern extensions. These include a covered pool and a large paved outdoor area shaded by the huge magnolias that give the hotel its name. The hotel has its own restaurant offering excellent food at very reasonable prices. The special dinner offered on Saturdays features regional produce and is worth far more than its E29 price tag.
There are a dozen or more excellent day rides that can be made using the hotel as a base. Your host Claudia will suggest rides to suit your interests and riding capabilities and will provide very clear maps and directions. However - be warned - the surrounding countryside is stunningly beautiful but there are hills! Unless you are a strong rider you may wish to consider the electric bike option that is available.
This is probably the best of the half dozen or so bike tours we have done in France and Italy. We will be back!

The crew on this barge and bike trip were outstanding. The weather was unseasonably hot and adjustments were made to the schedule to accommodate everyone's comfort. The route and attractions were well planned and interesting. We had some difficulty with the bikes provided by HAT tours - several (5 in total) punctures and one unfixable issue with a bike. This meant delays whilst the tiress were being repaired - approximately 1 hour per puncture. This meant that we missed out on seeing some of the attractions and had to cut short our time at others. The unfixable problem meant that one volunteer had to return to the boat via taxi and forego the rest of that day's itinerary. I would like to congratulate the crew on this tour as they did their utmost to ensure that these issues kept the disruption to a minimum. The group of travelers were also a very friendly and tolerant group of people who got on well. This also assisted in managing the issues with the bikes.
My recommendation to HAT tours is to provide maintenance support for the tour if they are going to continue to use these bikes. I have been on another company's bike and barge tour through Provence in 2014 and they had maintenance support which could be contacted promptly to fix and/or transport bikes/people when required.

Roman, Matilde and guide Ari, couldn't do enough to make welcome and please our entire group, especially during some minor technical difficulties that were not of their making. The quality of the bikes, whether due to model, age or degree of maintenance is something that our entire group of eighteen agreed is an area that could be looked at HAT tours; a lot of pressure fell upon the Anna Maria crew (especially Ari) to rectify faults not of their making. A less flexible and tolerant group of paying passengers might have made for an uncomfortable trip.

Most Memorable Part: The accommodations, the staff and of course cycling through all the beautiful country side.

Thoroughly enjoyed! Hotel staff were a wealth of knowledge and so friendly!

We had a great time riding through Bordeaux’s beautiful wine country. Our trip was enjoyable for our entire group of varying cycling abilities. The E-bikes made it easy for those that needed them. The staff was excellent and very personable. We were treated as art of the family. We are looking forward to our next cycling adventure.

Very nice tour following much of the Avenue Verte. Girolibero and Adriano were fantastic hosts on the unguided tour from Paris to London. The route was probably a little more unpaved then I expected an as such would not recommend bringing your own road bike to do the tour. We met and road with some amazing people from around the world making new friends and seeing areas that were amazing sites in the small villages and countryside.

The trip in Alsace, France was an amazing way to see the French countryside, wine region and the local community. The route choices were amazing, almost no cars the entire time and the hotels and restaurants were very aware of how the system worked and how to support us on our trip. I would highly recommend this trip to any expert cyclist.

Having a guide for this trip was very beneficial. For the first 3 days our guided group consisted of 30+ people. This was too large of a group and was pretty much a pain. We eventually broke into a group of 8 riders with Dorian as our guide, that was perfect. We were able to travel at a much more leisurely pace, visit many wineries, tasting rooms, small villages and churches.

Excellent routes, well marked and the Châteaus are breath taking. Make sure you have a rain coat.

Sailing into Paris in the seine was spectacular, what a way to get acquainted for the first time and also enjoy how Parisiennes live and play along the river. Make sure you bring your sunscreen.

The Loire environment was wonderful, and the well planned routes through the area, with so much off road or quiet road cycling was exceptional. The accommodation and overall organization was of excellent standard.
The one piece of feedback that you should receive concerning the bicycles is that they needed servicing. There was significant slippage of the gears throughout the trip, on both bicycles. This can very simply be fixed with appropriate servicing of the chain and rear cluster.

Much of the bike ride was difficult to navigate. Signs on the road are not always clear. Expected more country rides but much of the bike ride was through cities with many vehicles (somewhat dangerous). If we elect to travel with Tripsite again, we will do more research to determine ease of navigation along the bike route and how much of the route is through traffic.

The most memorable part for me was the camaraderie formed within the group. Mainly because our guide, Helmut, was so personable and caring. Also, Tripsite did a great job filling our time with memorable adventures. I'm so glad I chose to use an e-bike.